SPAIN: Rioja exports down by 2%

Exports of Spain's largest wine denomination, Rioja, fell by 2% to €171.3m (US$201m) in the period from January to August 2003.

By volume, exports were down by 2.34% at 40.7m litres, with exports of young wine down by 7.7% at 20.2m litres. However, export volumes of aged wines rose by 1.0% to 11.9m litres.

Sales to the UK, Rioja's largest market, fell by 3.2% to 10.6m litres while exports to Germany fell by 2.8% to 8.1m litres. However, exports to Switzerland rose by 9% to 4m litres while exports to the US were up by some 20.3% at 3.5m litres.